It is also not good that a soul be without knowledge It is not good for a person to be without Torah.

and he who hastens with his feet sins The sinner treads and tramples the sins with his heels and says, “This is of minor import; I will transgress it.” And our Sages explained: It is also...without knowledge, as referring to one who compels his wife to copulate with him against her will.

and he who hastens with his feet sins This refers to one who performs the sex act and repeats it. Another explanation: One who walks on grass on the Sabbath.

A man’s folly perverts his way Harm comes upon him because of his sin, because his folly perverts his way and he commits sins for which he is punished; and when the trouble befalls him, his heart is wroth with the Holy One, blessed be He, and he questions the Divine standard of justice, e.g. Joseph’s brothers, who said (Gen. 42:28): “What is this that God has done to us?”

Wealth adds many friends Heb. רעים רבים, many lovers. And it can be interpreted as concerning one who learned Torah.

The great will beg the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend All become friends to a man who gives gifts. This may be interpreted as referring to those who give charity, and it may also be interpreted as referring to those who disseminate the Torah.

All the kinsmen of a poor man lit. the brothers, the kinsmen.

surely his friends distance themselves Surely his friends, his companions, and his lovers.

he pursues statements that are fit for him He says, “So-and-so and so-and-so are my relatives. So-and-so and so-and-so are my friends.” And all are words of futility. This can be interpreted as concerning one who is poor in Torah and in good deeds.

he pursues statements which are futile He seeks to promulgate the halachah, but it is not in his possession. The midrash interprets it as concerning Joseph, who spread slander about his brothers. He would say to his father that they were suspected of [eating] limbs from a living animal. Therefore, they hated him, and he was called a poor man because he would spread false rumors about them and look for statements that were not true (לא המה). We read לו, “to him,” for he would pursue statements for his own benefit, and in Joseph’s matter, they were his, because his slander returned upon him. He would say that they ate limbs from a living animal, but Scripture testifies about them that even in the time of sin, they would slaughter a kid, as it is said: (Gen. 37:31) “and they slaughtered a kid.” He would say that they degraded the sons of the maidservants. Therefore, Joseph was sold as a slave. He would say that they gazed upon the women of the land. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, “By your life, I will incite a bear upon you.” Therefore, (ibid. 39:7) “his master’s wife lifted, etc.” [This appears] in Genesis Rabbah [see 84:7].

Pleasure does not befit a fool, much less a slave It is derived by an a fortiori conclusion that it does not befit a slave to rule over princes.

It is good sense for a man to be slow to anger Heb. האריך, like להאריך, to be slow. If he did so, it is good sense for him.

and it is his glory that he pass over his retaliations.

The King’s fury is like a lion’s roar [The fury of] the Holy One, blessed be He.

a constant dripping lit. a driving drip. [As] the dripping of the rain that falls in the house disturbs and drives out the inhabitants of the house, so are the quarrels of a bad wife.

Laziness causes one to fall into a deep sleep Laziness causes one to fall asleep. This is the figure, but the allegory is that it concerns one who neglects his studies; it will ultimately come about that people will ask him words of wisdom, and he will be sound asleep.

and a deceitful soul shall suffer hunger He will ultimately become poor. Similarly, one who is deceitful in his studies, making his Torah into “bundles,” will ultimately forget.

He who keeps a commandment keeps his soul; he who despises his ways will die He does not take heed to weigh them.

He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him his reward When he becomes ill and is close to death, his charity defends him before the Divine standard of justice, saying, “The poor man’s soul was struggling to leave him because of hunger, and this one sustained it. I, too, will return his soul to him.”

Chastise your son for there is hope, but do not set your heart on his destruction Do not deal him a lethal blow.

A hot-tempered man incurs punishment, etc. But if you pass over your anger and save your enemy if you see harm coming to him, you will yet increase your days and have much goodness.

The attraction to a man is his kindness The main reason why people are attracted to a person is because of his kindness.

and a poor man is better than a liar And if he is a liar, who promises but does not perform, a poor man is better than he.

and he will rest satisfied He who fears the Lord will rest, satisfied that he will not be visited by any evil.

A lazy man hid his hand in a kettle Heb. בצלחת, in a hot kettle, in which, when removed from the fire and emptied, one may warm his hand. Similar to it in Chronicles (II 35:13): “they cooked in pots, in cauldrons, and in kettles (בצלחות),” In the name of Rabbi Isaac HaLevi I heard that בצלחת is derived from the expression of the Aramaic translation of ויבקע “and he split,” which is וצלח. At the time of the cold and the frost, since the cold and the frost crack and split the hands. [Hence, we render: A lazy man hid his hand in winter.] But I heard that is a rend of a cloak called fenditura [in Italian, in German Riss, Spalt, Schlitz], i.e., he hides it in his bosom.

Beat a scorner, and a simple man will gain cunning Through the plagues visited upon Pharaoh and the war with Amalek, Jethro gained cunning and converted.

A son who causes shame and disgrace robs his father, puts his mother to flight Heb. יבריח, puts his mother to flight.

A son who causes shame and disgrace Whose ways are disgraceful. Since Sarah saw the son of the Egyptian maidservant making sport with idolatry and adultery, he caused his mother to be sent away, “and the matter displeased Abraham” (Gen. 21:11).

My son, cease to stray, etc. This is an elliptical verse, and this is its explanation: My son, cease to stray from words of knowledge in order to hear discipline.

cease to stray Heb. לשגות, like מלשגות, from straying. Likewise, (Num. 9:13): “and refrains (וחדל) from performing (לעשות) the Passover service.” Also, (Gen. 41:49): “they stopped counting (לספר).”

A godless witness testifies judgment He testifies against a man [with] the rhetoric of the judgments of tortures and death.

but violence will devour the mouth of the wicked The violence will swallow him up.

are prepared for the scorners The Holy One, blessed be He, prepared punishments of zaraath for this scorner who slanders.